Fuel cell, control method for fuel cell, and computer readable recording medium

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2018351184-A1
Application number	US-201816059628-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Aug 9, 2018
Priority date	Mar 25, 2016
Publication date	Dec 6, 2018
Grant date	—

Abstract

The control unit controls opening and closing of the on-off valve and the drain valve based on the capacity of the hydrogen circulation passage, the capacity of the gas-liquid separator and the pressure detected by the first pressure sensor, to perform drain control processing.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A fuel cell comprising: a power generation unit configured to generate electricity by reacting hydrogen and oxygen; a fuel unit configured to supply hydrogen to the power generation unit; an on-off valve for supplying the hydrogen; a hydrogen circulation passage configured to return gas exhausted from the power generation unit to the power generation unit and circulate the gas; a pressure detector configured to detect pressure in the hydrogen circulation passage; a gas-liquid separator located at the hydrogen circulation passage to separate water from the gas; a drain valve configured to discharge water from the gas-liquid separator; and a control unit configured to control opening and closing of the on-off valve and the drain valve, wherein
the control unit controls opening and closing of the on-off valve and the drain valve to perform drain processing based on a capacity of the hydrogen circulation passage, a capacity of the gas-liquid separator, and the pressure detected by the pressure detector.

2 . The fuel cell according to claim 1 , wherein
the control unit calculates the number of times the drain processing is performed, based on the capacity of the hydrogen circulation passage, the capacity of the gas-liquid separator and the pressure detected by the pressure detector.

3 . The fuel cell according to claim 2 , comprising
a water level detector configured to detect a level of water stored in the gas-liquid separator, wherein the control unit calculates the number of times the drain processing is performed, based on the capacity of the hydrogen circulation passage, an entire capacity of the gas-liquid separator, a first capacity of the gas-liquid separator from a top surface to a predetermined water level and the pressure detected by the pressure detector.

4 . The fuel cell according to claim 3 , wherein
the control unit calculates an amount of water to be discharged at a time based on a difference between the pressure detected by the pressure detector and outside pressure and on a sum of the first capacity and the capacity of the hydrogen circulation passage, and calculates the number of times the drain processing is performed by dividing a difference between the entire capacity and the first capacity by the amount of water to be discharged at a time.

5 . The fuel cell according to claim 4 , comprising
a second pressure detector configured to detect the outside pressure, wherein the control unit calculates the amount to be discharged based on the difference between the pressure and the outside pressure detected by the second pressure detector.

6 . The fuel cell according to claim 2 , comprising
a drain pipe that connects the drain valve with the gas-liquid separator, wherein the control unit calculates the number of times the drain processing is performed while including the capacity of the drain valve.

7 . The fuel cell according to claim 3 , comprising
a drain pipe that connects the drain valve with the gas-liquid separator, wherein the control unit calculates the number of times the drain processing is performed while including the capacity of the drain valve.

8 . The fuel cell according to claim 4 , comprising
a drain pipe that connects the drain valve with the gas-liquid separator, wherein the control unit calculates the number of times the drain processing is performed while including the capacity of the drain valve.

9 . The fuel cell according to claim 5 , comprising
a drain pipe that connects the drain valve with the gas-liquid separator, wherein the control unit calculates the number of times the drain processing is performed while including the capacity of the drain valve.

10 . The fuel cell according to claim 3 , wherein
the water level detector is located close to a bottom surface of the gas-liquid separator, and the control unit performs preliminary drain processing where the drain valve is opened until the water level detected by the water level detector reaches the predetermined water level.

11 . The fuel cell according to claim 4 , wherein
the water level detector is located close to a bottom surface of the gas-liquid separator, and the control unit performs preliminary drain processing where the drain valve is opened until the water level detected by the water level detector reaches the predetermined water level.

12 . The fuel cell according to claim 5 , wherein
the water level detector is located close to a bottom surface of the gas-liquid separator, and the control unit performs preliminary drain processing where the drain valve is opened until the water level detected by the water level detector reaches the predetermined water level.

13 . The fuel cell according to claim 9 , wherein
the water level detector is located close to a bottom surface of the gas-liquid separator, and the control unit performs preliminary drain processing where the drain valve is opened until the water level detected by the water level detector reaches the predetermined water level.

14 . A control method for a fuel cell configured to supply hydrogen from a fuel unit to a power generation unit by opening an on-off valve, to return gas exhausted from the power generation unit to the power generation unit through a hydrogen circulation passage and circulate the gas, and to separate water from the gas by a gas-liquid separator located at the hydrogen circulation passage to drain the water by a drain valve, comprising:
obtaining pressure in the hydrogen circulation passage; and controlling opening and closing of the on-off valve and the drain valve based on the capacity of the hydrogen circulation passage, the pressure and the capacity of the gas-liquid separator, to drain water.

15 . A non-transitory computer readable recording medium recording a computer program causing a computer controlling a fuel cell comprising a hydrogen circulation passage configured to return gas exhausted from a power generation unit to circulate the gas, and a gas-liquid separator configured to separate water from the gas to drain the water, to execute processing of:
obtaining pressure in the hydrogen circulation passage; calculating the number of times water is drained based on a capacity of the hydrogen circulation passage, the pressure and a capacity of the gas-liquid separator; and outputting an on-off signal for an on-off valve for supplying hydrogen and an on-off signal for a drain valve in accordance with the number of times obtained by calculating.

Assignees

• Brother Ind Ltd

Inventors

• Fukatsu Yoshiaki

Classifications

• H01M8/04179 Primary

  by purging or increasing flow or pressure of reactants · CPC title

• H01M8/04388

  of anode reactants at the inlet or inside the fuel cell · CPC title

• H01M8/04164

  by condensers, gas-liquid separators or filters · CPC title

• H01M8/04843

  of fuel cell exhausts · CPC title

• H01M8/04303

  applied during shut-down · CPC title